Opening Prayer Series: Collect for 3rd Sunday of Eastertide

The Collect for the 3rd Sunday of Eastertide reads as follows:

Let us pray,

May Your people exult for ever, O God,

in renewed youthfulness of spirit,

so that, rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption,

we may look forward in confident hope

to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

One God for ever and ever.

In making this prayer tangible the following reflection questions emerged:

1. What does renewed youthfulness of spirit mean to me?
2. How will my renewed youthfulness of spirit be reflected in my life this coming week?
3. What does it mean to me to be a child of God through adoption?
4. What does it mean for my glory of adoption to be restored?
5. What does looking forward in confident hope mean for me?
6. What does the day of resurrection mean to me?
7. What will I change in my life this week to live in youfulness of spirit and in confident hope?
8. How is my Eastertide spiritual growth plan progressing?

In today's Gospel, we see Jesus being the teacher again to His disciples. However, like all good teachers, Jesus had to make sure the learning environment of the disciples was conducive otherwise their learning would be hampered.  Jesus set about gaining the trust of the disciples by relieving their anxieties and fears by showing them ''his hands and feet'.  Today's gospel tells that they were so filled with joy that they were dumbfounded.  So Jesus ate fish in front of them so that they would realize that He was not a ghost but it was truly Jesus.  Then they were ready to learn and Jesus was able to teach them the meaning of the scriptures.

Although we do not have the experience of the disciples of seeing Jesus risen from the dead in a physical way, we, like the disiples can need convincing at times when we have doubts. Perhaps at times we ask in our prayer for a sign.  In the gospel, Jesus was kind and gave the disciples the sign of his hands and feet to look at-something they would recognize and provided a sense of normality by eating fish when they were so overjoyed that they were dumbfounded.

Jesus can open up the scriptures to us when we ask Him and help us to understand in a deeper way.  He shows Himself to us each day/every time we attend Mass in the Eucharist and/or in Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (either exposed or in the tabernacle) and He shows Himself to us in all of the other Sacraments also.

We too can have Jesus relieve our doubts and anxieties, and when we are dumfounded can ask Jesus to come along side us and walk our journey with us. We can ask Him in prayer to teach us in the ways we most need.  

Let us renew our trust in Jesus, and when we have our doubts and fears, ask Him to show us ''His hands and His feet''.